Bandai 1/72 fully transform able VF-1 plastic kit for Macross 30th Ann

[ahiachris]

Agree. The Bandai approach is always more on the toy side. Hasegawa always have fitment problems. But I guess if Finemolds do step into Macross it'll definitely be a great hit.

[Shaorin]

well... i certainly hope that this thing includes at least die-cast landing gear and rubber tires.

die-cast shoulder and backpack hinges would be nice too, a real sweet nod to the old IMAI parts former, IMO...

[CF18]

電擊HOBBY 2013 Feb

The big head looks "retro".

[Kelsain]

: /

Who's that guy with the biiig head? Biiig head, biiig head!

(null)

[Vi-RS]

I'm sure many members are going to upset with the collar and the absence of "neck", but I think it looks fine.

[electric indigo]

Kawamori looks skeptical himself.

[jenius]

Looks terrible in battroid.

[vt102]

Looks terrible in battroid.

I agree. A bit too slender. Gotta beef it up just a little.

[Ignacio Ocamica]

It's just a battroid mock up. It's lacking all the articulation joints. There's still hope!

[Hoptimus]

Hmmmm. I don't like the skinny Battroid. I understand for a nice fighter mode that is a compromise but I think they could tweak it a bit more...

[Duymon]

The more I look at this the more I don't really care. I built tons of Hases and for my Toy I have 3 1/48's I customized.

I wish they'd approached the 1/48 VF-25 like they originally had. That is something that wouuld sell like hotcakes. I'd buy 10 of them myself...

[EXO]

Gonna be honest... It's awful. They better start on that V.3

[Ghost Train]

Kawamori probably didn't get to use that sharpie/pen he had - Bro, not gonna bother with this.... just start over.

Fighter mode looks somewhat acceptable to me though. In my opinion the better way to go would have been to continue making the 1:100 non-transformable fighters like they did with the -25 and -29.

[MechTech]

Does it come with a finger pointing hand option to stick down it's throat? Cause it's skinnier than a supermodel! It really looks TOoooo much akin to an SD type model - I hate to say it! BIG head, skinny body! The choice of weapons is cool though. I HOPE they're not done with the prototypes yet.

Why do I think WE here could do a better job in the modeling department making this thing? - MT

[jenius]

I think the head size is probably close to what it should be... it just looks comical because the other battroid proportions are all so slender. I love transformation gimmicks but this model looks like it gave up on battroid mode in favor of fighter mode but fighter mode is only "decent" because of the need for other modes. Kinda silly. They should give you swap out arms and legs specific to battroid mode or something.

[Vifam7]

What we're seeing is very early in development so it's kinda early for us to suggest this is what the final product will look like. But that said, it'll be interesting to see what changes will be made to this as Kawamori inserts his corrections (which the article above points out).

Edited December 25, 2012 by Vifam7

[joscasle]

I know it's an early stage, but the all round nose, the skinny legs and arms, the wings in Batroid mode look to long, etc, etc. There is an old thread here about the Hase 1/48, some one post a picture of the Hase 1/48 converted (as a test i think) to Batroid, looks exactly the same, skinny, wing out of proportion, etc. Just my opinion.

I just pray some day Hasegawa will do a Gerwalk mode kit in any scale!!!!

Edited December 26, 2012 by joscasle

[electric indigo]

Fighter mode looks somewhat acceptable to me though. In my opinion the better way to go would have been to continue making the 1:100 non-transformable fighters like they did with the -25 and -29.

They already exist - the Wave kits are pretty decent.

[peter]

Yeah, it's not looking too good in Battroid, but hopefully, they'll iron out some of the problems before production.

[Twoducks]

I'm with Kawamori's expression... they better start on a V.4 or even 5.

[funaka]

Those bumps on the side of the nose look like AOA (Angle of Attack) Indicators to me. You can see something about the same on real F-16s.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b281/drhornii/F-16C%20138th%20OK%20ANG/AOA.jpg Look at the bump right in front of the "DO NOT PAINT" stencil. That's about exactly where the bumps are on the Bandai VF-1.

Not digging the battroid. The Hasegawa battroids are pretty skinny, too. I know they're not as bad as this prototype but the first time I saw one I was like, Whaaaaaaa??? Hopefully they'll keep refining. It's actually pretty cool of Bandai to make this all public. Most kit manufacturers just put out their product and say "Take it or leave it". You only see a prototype of the final version. Then the modeling forums are full of everybody's reviews and comments. Some manufacturers listen and refine their product, but many (probably most) don't.

Anyway, back to the proportions, the problem here is you want it to look something like the anime but anime is a 2D drawing and they totally cheat when they draw. The way mecha gets drawn it's like they're made of spongy NERF material or flesh and blood. Our bodies move fluidly because were covered in mushy muscles and fat and stretchy skin. Things made of metal (or even model plastic) don't do that without being really complicated (see the frame on your modern day Master Grade kit, all 100+ parts of it). It doesn't look like this model will be that partsy. Even if it was, you can't stretch the arms and legs to look good in fighter mode but then make them shorter and fatter for battroid mode like they do in drawings (unless it's a Unicorn Valkyrie ).

I think Wave did a pretty good job by making separate fighter and batroid kits and letting each one have its own proportions, then joining the appropriate parts for the gerwalk. I know a lot of people want perfect transformation, but you really can't have that and then have nice proportions in all 3 modes. It defies the laws of physics.

People want their Valks to do different things. Some want them to be re-posable and re-transformable so they get a Yamato. Some want the most detailed perfectly realistic looking thing and they build a Hasegawa kit. This kit may fall somewhere in the middle but in my AMS model builder mind you can't really compare a Yamato Valk to a plastic model kit, other than the basic proportions. To me it would be great if the proportions of the Bandai valk pretty much came out like a Yamato, but was a plastic kit with the finer detail I'd want in a plastic kit (Bandai is all over the map on detail, their Gundam 2.0 was a joke, the new MG Nu and the Real Grades have nice detail). There's a tradoff between fine detail and durability between a model kit and an action figure. Each requires sacrifices. I fall on the side of wanting detail. When I'm comparing this model, it's pretty much to the 80's kits (nothing but nostalgia there for me), the Wave kits and the Hasegawa kits. Again, this one looks like it will fall somewhere in the middle. I just hope it isn't as expensive as the Wave kits. Bandai is all over the place in their pricing (see EX kits). You never know what you're gonna pay. I would guess this thing will cost around 3000 yen. It's significantly smaller than a 25 and looks like it will be less complex.

Also, sure there are lots of VF-1 kits and lots of RX-78-2 Gundam kits but those are NOTHING compared to how many Bf-109 kits are out there. Or Panzer kits. People have a real hard-on for WWII German hardware. Even a relatively new plane like the F-22 probably has about a dozen kits of it out there.

Anyway, my $.02. Back to work, Bandai! Get this thing done before my XMAS money is all gone...

[cool8or]

True, battroid looks ugly, but we thought worst when we saw the first 1/72 VF-25 prototypes. So I'll wait, I think that in the worst scenario we can biuld a great gerwalk.

[EXO]

They just stated that they're still remodeling the battroid form. Fixes are being applied and everyone should stay tune to updates.

My guess is they just printed out the proportions of the fighter in battroid and had the hobby magazines release it for feedbacks... the response was overwhelmingly ummm... critical. lol.

[MechTech]

Thanks EXO! I guess some of us can breathe again I just KNEW they couldn't have settled with that supermodel version. If artists could do a good job 30 years ago, they could do all that much better NOW with CAD/CAM! I'm glad they're asking and listening to fans! - MT

[Black Valkyrie]

Perfect or not, if its the same QC like the Gunpla, then I have no problem.

[Cameron1138]

I wonder if they'll improve the stickers from the Frontier kits? I don't have any interest in this one in particular, but if they end up making other 1/72 kits (especially if they did other Frontier Valks or a Macross Plus series), I really hope they make better stickers.

[Shaorin]

well, if they can get those proportions more Yammie 1/60ver. II like,

and include die-cast landing gear/shoulder hinges and rubber tires, i'll be all over the damned thing myself...

[jenius]

You realize that this is a model right?

[Shaorin]

You realize that this is a model right?

Sure, i realize that.

i also realize that this is to be designed like a modern GUNPLA, perfect transformation a bare minimum requirement in my book.

further, as a nod to the old 1/72 VARIABLE TYPE, select die-cast metal parts and rubber tires would be a very nice touch indeed, IMHO.

perhaps they should approach this thing like a refinement of the 1/100 HI-METAL VF-1.

they had some good design there for getting those nacelle modules down to their leg positions,

not as good as YAMATO's approach, IMO, but a solid alternative all the same.

the arm-swing system of the HI-METAL, i suppose that's serviceable, i dunno.

perhaps it could be refined in the larger 1/72 scale of the kit.

at any rate, i'm holding my breath for those die-cast parts and a fully non-parts-former based transformation...

Edited January 3, 2013 by Shaorin

[UN Spacy]

BRAND NEW UPDATE! Lots of little changes made.

http://blog.yahoo.com/cybergundam/articles/737761/index

[David Hingtgen]

Many improvements, but backpack/tailfins still too high above the legs. They can make a thousand little changes, but that's a BIG thing IMHO that affects the overall look.

[joscasle]

I don't see any improvement.

[EXO]

I don't see any improvement.

That's still v.2 of the fighter mode posted here http://www.macrosswo...post&p=1005561.

They still need to update for battroid.

[Shaorin]

that head is still stupidly big. any garden-variety fool can plainly observe that.

i realize that the design team is after setting this iteration apart from all the rest out there,

but they really should be eyeballing the 1/60v.II more for an example on getting those proportions massaged into balance...

Edited January 10, 2013 by Shaorin

[jenius]

The head might be a LITTLE big... look at the line art, not the Yamato V2 if you want to talk about battroid mode (and since you're talking about the head you should be). I know the line art aesthetic might not appeal to you but it makes sense that that's what they'd be going for.

Edited January 10, 2013 by jenius